Who pays for the braces?

Several criteria apply for the statutory health insurance. Early treatment, which is treatment from the moment a lateral milk tooth breaks through, is only covered in extreme cases. The phase in which the health insurance company covers the most is the second part of the tooth change at the age of nine to twelve years, when the premolars (teeth 4 and 5) of the supporting zone break through.

At this time, costs are covered, but only from a certain degree of severity of the malocclusion. The statutory health insurance therefore has a classification of the malocclusion into the so-called “orthodontic indication groups“, which regulates the extent and a contribution to the costs at all. The statutory health insurance often only covers the costs of a basic set of braces, while any special requests, such as lingual technology or other materials for brackets, must be paid for out of their own pocket.

For those with statutory health insurance, private supplementary insurance is advisable, as it covers orthodontic treatment partially or even completely, depending on the insurance company. Private health insurance companies have also cut back on services in orthodontic treatment, so it is advisable to check with the health insurance company and the agreed terms and conditions in advance to be able to assess whether the costs will be covered. Nevertheless, it is a fact that private health insurance covers more services than a statutory one does. In the case of adult treatments, only treatments that are orthodontically and surgically treated are covered, i.e. only extreme cases.

Braces for adults

Orthodontics is moving more and more into the focus due to today’s tooth awareness for adults and every third patient in orthodontics is an adult today. With the help of splint therapy and lingual technology, it is possible to carry out treatment almost invisibly for the fellow human beings, which is an incentive. Recent studies have shown that the head, skull and jaw grow up to the age of forty, which is why it is also possible to move the teeth therapeutically in a short time.

This is also possible after the end of growth, but the therapeutic goal can be reached more quickly in the growth phase. Thus, orthodontic treatment can be carried out throughout the patient’s life with a good prognosis. Indications are crowding and nesting in the front, which can be compensated by invisible splints.

Tooth tilting and gaps that are too narrow are also indications to open these gaps in order to be able to insert a bridge or an implant. It is also possible to close gaps in old age, which can be caused by periodontal disease, for example. For all these treatments, however, only fixed braces or splint therapy can be considered; loose braces would not lead to a successful therapy.